In the production of garment goods assembled from fabric or other apparel materials, it is customary to cut a number of parts simultaneously from a stack of plural layers or sheets of fabric followed by separation of the fabric layers for further operations. In the manufacture of goods such as shirts and pants, for example, various parts are subjected to preliminary sewing operations such as hemming and/or partial preassembly and then restacked in one form or another and fed to a further operation. The parts are then normally required to be separated from the stack prior to each successive sewing operation.
Separation of fabric parts from a stack of parts of like material can be particularly difficult. A major difficulty encountered in separation occurs when the second or subsequent parts in the stack "follow" the top most part as it is being removed. Because fabric is flexible and often has a texture with a relatively high coefficient of friction, like parts tend to cling together causing the "following" phenomenon whereby when a top part is engaged and pulled from a stack, the second and possibly other parts will cling to the engaged part and be dragged off the stack with it. Reliable separation processes are therefore needed to facilitate the automation of the manufacturing process.